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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. net — in sport
  3. last — final
  4. object — a thing
  5. net — for catching
  6. fork — in a road
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. object — to protest
  12. rule — a law
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — the arms race
  15. last — to go on
  16. shower — to wash
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. last — finally
  20. date — the fruit
  21. rule — government
  22. race — humankind
  23. net — after costs
  24. object — an aim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com